San Francisco's Lost Landmarks

James R. Smith

Description

With long-forgotten stories and evocative photographs, this collection showcases the once-familiar sites that have faded into dim memories and hazy legends. Not just a list of places, facts, and dates, this pictorial history shows why San Francisco has been a legendary travel destination and one of the world's premier places to live and work for more than 150 years.

Informations

• Publié par: Linden Publishing
• Date de parution: 01 juillet 2005
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781610351911
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 8 Mo

Extrait

San Francisco’s
Lost Landmarks
James R. Smith

Fresno, California
Copyright © 2005 by James R. Smith. All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

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Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 978-1-61035-191-1

57986

Craven Street Books project cadre:
Doris Hall, Dave Marion, Stephen Blake Mettee

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Smith, James R.
San Francisco’s lost landmarks / by James R. Smith.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-884995-44-6
1. San Francisco (Calif.) History. 2. San Francisco (Calif.) History Pictorial works. 3. Historic sites California San Francisco. 4. Historic sites California San Francisco Pictorial works. 5. San Francisco (Calif.) Social life and customs. I. Title.

F869.S357.S64 2005
979.4’61 dc22
2004023982
This book is dedicated to all San Franciscans, an indomitable people determined to seek their own path, and to my mother, Ruth Elaine Johnson Smith, who had the courage to marry one of them.
Contents

C HAPTER 1: T HE O RIGINAL L AND AND S HORES : S CULPTING A C ITY
Walk Around the Coastline Mid-Nineteenth Century
Islands and Rocks
The Filling of the Bay and the Abandoned Gold Rush Fleet
Tearing Down the Hills
San Francisco’s Sand Dunes and Marshland
Shelly Cocoas

C HAPTER 2: A MUSEMENT P ARKS
Woodward’s Gardens
Remembrance of Woodward’s Gardens
The Chutes on Haight Street
The Chutes at Tenth and Fulton
The Fillmore Street Chutes
Playland at the Beach
Herb Caen’s View on Playland

C HAPTER 3: O CEAN , B AY & W HARF-SIDE A TTRACTIONS
Meigg’s Wharf and the Cobweb Palace
Cobweb Palace
Sutro Heights
Adolph Sutro’s San Francisco
The Cliff House
The Cliff House and the Parallel
Sutro’s Baths & Museum
Memories of Sutro Baths

C HAPTER 4: G AMBLING H OUSES , P ARLORS , C LUBS , S ALOONS AND D IVES
The Gold Rush Era
The Enterprise Years
Post-Quake San Francisco
The Depression and War Years
The Fillmore Jazz Clubs
The Beat Era Post WWII
The Primalon on Fillmore Street
The Curtain Falls
David de Alba at the Finocchio Club

C HAPTER 5: E ARLY T HEATRES & S TAGE
The Early Years First Half of the Golden Era
Elisa Biscaccianti
San Francisco’s Star Rises Second Half of the Golden Era
Civil War and Silver

C HAPTER 6: C ALIFORNIA M IDWINTER I NTERNATIONAL E XPOSITION 1894
California Midwinter International Exposition

C HAPTER 7: P ANAMA -P ACIFIC I NTERNATIONAL E XPOSITION - 1915
The Planning Begins
Building the Exposition
The Exposition City and Its Exhibits
State and International Buildings and Facilities
The Joy Zone
The Panama-Pacific International Exposition Experience
Memories of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition
The End of a Great Fair

C HAPTER 8: G OLDEN G ATE I NTERNATIONAL E XPOSITION 1939
The Planning Begins
Building the Exposition
The Exposition City and Its Exhibits
State and Federal Buildings and Facilities
International Participation
The Joy Zone
The Golden Gate International Exposition Experience
The End of a Great Fair
A Young View of the Golden Gate International Exposition

C HAPTER 9: S AN F RANCISCO ’ S R ESTAURANTS OF THE P AST
The Poodle Dog
The French Room Clift Hotel Menu
The Italians
Eating Chinese
Theme Restaurants
Coffee Dan’s
The Domino Club
An Exile’s Toast

C HAPTER 10: S AN F RANCISCO ’ S E ARLY G RAND H OTELS
San Francisco’s Early Hotels
The Niantic Hotel
Gold Rush Hotels
San Francisco’s First Grand Hotels
The Lick House
The Grand Hotel
Senator Sharon and Miss Hill at the Grand Hotel
The Palace Hotel
The Baldwin Hotel
Nearly the End of an Era

B IBLIOGRAPHY
I NDEX
A BOUT THE A UTHOR
Acknowledgements

While I take full responsibility for the content of this book, I couldn’t have done it by myself. Those history writers who put pen to paper prior to the writing of this book led the way and I’m indebted to them. Not that I took all for fact but they provided a starting place and yes, inspiration. The San Francisco Public Library’s Main Branch has been my primary source for research and research support, especially the Herb Caen Magazines and Newspapers Center and the San Francisco History Center on the sixth floor. Pat, Selby, and Susan each provided kind, patient support in spite of my hurried requests and myriad questions. The California Historical Society and the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society have each played a key role in the creation of this book, as has the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco and the San Francisco Genealogy website SFGenealogy.com; many thanks to Pamela Storm Wolfskill and Ron Filion for retaining history as a major part of that site. I also owe Ron for his serious research and transcriptions ( http://www.zpub.com/sf50/sf/ ), which he so willingly shared.
A number of people have shared their expertise in areas that are less than well documented. Claudine Chalmers, author of Splendide Californie, 2002, and a number of articles on the French in early California, provided invaluable information and guidance on that topic, including the history of the Poodle Dog restaurant. Her website is www.FrenchGold.com for those interested in the subject. Cal Lalanne, grandson of Calixte Lalanne of the nineteenth century Old Poodle Dog and owner of the final incarnation, kindly offered insight into his family and their restaurants. In the same manner, John T. Freeman offered guidance through the maze of the various Chutes locations. His in-depth article on that topic just appeared in The Argonaut-Journal of the San Francisco Museum and Historical Society, Vol. 14 No. 2, Winter 2003. Bill Roddy shared his experiences in San Francisco during the thirties, both directly and through his www.AmericaHurrah.com website. Additionally, a large number of kind folks offered images, anecdotes and histories to help personalize this history. My warmest thanks to all of them.
Ruth Grady Skewis was quick to recall or research incidents and places from her life in "da Mish," the Mission District of San Francisco. She also provided encouragement and some great editing. Matt O’Neil and wife Mary Ellen also shared their memories, especially of the restaurants and the Golden Gate International Exposition. My dad’s best friend, Bud Clark, shared stories of growing up in San Francisco. Friendships like that come once in a lifetime, if one is lucky. My sincere thanks to all!
John Freeman is owed special recognition for clarifying the history of The Chutes and for his input on Playland. James Jarvis pointed out the exact location of the Cobweb Palace which I have since verified.
Finally, I owe my family a great debt of gratitude for its support and encouragement as well as their tolerance. My wife Liberty stuck by me through the whole process, overlooking the busy hours and offering her great editing skills and suggestions, as well as urging me on. No man deserves to be this lucky.
Introduction

San Francisco’s Lost Landmarks: A City in Perpetual Transition offers an opportunity to look back at earlier times, lives, and lifestyles. Little comparison is made to what the city is now and as you’ll find, the tone remains as neutral as possible except in a couple of instances. No attempt was made to judge those times or these San Francisco is unique in that it is for the most part amoral but not immoral. It has always been a "live and let live" place populated by people who dare to take risks.
San Francisco’s city emblem, the phoenix, is as applicable today as always. The city continually renews and reinvents itself. I meet people who tell me they won’t go to the city any more because it’s become so dark and sinful; yes, it has changed and not necessarily for the better. Yet it’s no more dark or sinful than it ever was. Part of that is media sensationalism and part the sanitation of old memories, and I’m as guilty of the latter as anyone else. Yes, the city had changed, but the factor of change is ongoing, because it, more than any other city in the world, embraces change.
So please take this book as a fun look backward, with stories and illustrations of the days, events, and places that we have built on. History doesn’t have to be serious, so enjoy and take from this what you will.
Sand dunes like these covered most of the western side of San Francisco, as well as a good part of the remainder. Photo courtesy of San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library

Chapter 1

The Original Land and Shores: Sculpting a City

In 1847, American San Francisco was not exactly ideal for th